St. Johns River needs to be in the news for the right reasons

It's rather difficult to wrap up the year from over here on our St. Johns when the most significant river event of recent times is still waiting for us in the new year as unfinished business.

And more so as it's most likely to rear it's ugly head again should we fail to finish that business.

It speaks volumes that the most discussed thing, both in the media and among fisherman, to occur on the river this year had nothing to do with fish or shrimp or crabs, except in a negative sort of way.

Realize for a moment that there may actually have been more words written questioning the safety of the fish, shrimp and crabs coming out of our river than there were words written about how and where to catch them.

Certainly if we add in all the words written questioning the safety of coming in contact with our river, or for that matter, the health risks associated with breathing the fumes emanating from it, then the balance definitely shifts to the negative.

Of course, that event was the months-long, toxic algae bloom which turned our river green, fouled the air around it and rendered many a watery eye and more than a few runny noses.

The algae also kept local fishermen from ever finding out how good this year's shrimp season was.

It also left local crabbers struggling to sell their catch and caused recreational boaters and watersports enthusiasts to leave their boats parked in the garage.

The direct negative economic impacts -- to crabbers, bait and tackle dealers, fish camps and the boating industry -- are rather obvious.

Not so obvious is the hit our region took as the story spread far and wide counteracting, at least to some extent, the cheerleading efforts of our regional economic development agencies.

For at least a few months, they could not use the availability of a healthy, productive St. Johns and the recreational opportunities it offers, as a selling point in their search for new businesses.

Fortunately, the cause of the bloom, over nutrification of the waters of our river, is not all that difficult a problem to solve -- at least from the standpoint of the science involved.

We've simply got to reduce the volume of nutrients flowing into our river. The strategies to accomplish this range from the simple expedient of reducing, or better yet eliminating, the application of fertilizers to our laws, to the more intensive upgrading of commercial and public wastewater treatment facilities.

Unfortunately, the will to solve the problem is sorely lacking.

Both on the individual level, and on the regional level as our political leaders consistently demonstrate an unwillingness to require reasonable protections for our river, the impediments to solving the problem are significant.

The silver lining to this summer's green scourge, is that for a few heady weeks, even the most short-sighted and narrow-minded among us had to admit, or at least not argue to, that the St. Johns is not being protected sufficiently.

For those few weeks, there was an outpouring of support for the river.

For a short while, it was more than just a few fishermen, a few environmentalists and a few business leaders who grasped the value of a healthy St. Johns to the regions economic base. It was the community as a whole.

The question as we slip into a new year is whether -- with the green now off the surface of the river and off the front pages of the newspaper -- we will confront the unfinished business of making sure our river is there for our children.

There for our children not as a conduit for our wastes, but as an economic asset and a place where they can teach their children to fish, too.